Giratina/DPPt
Giratina can only be found in Platinum during the main game, where it is the sole encounter in the Distortion World. Legendaries are often considered off-limits in Nuzlockes, and Giratina is a shining example of why. Excellent in both stats and typing, it might not quite break the game, but it'll get pretty close. Important Matchups * Gym #8 - Volkner (Sunyshore City, Electric-type): Giratina's typing works wonders here. Neither Raichu nor Electivire can hit for better than not-very-effective damage and Jolteon's can only do so with a rather weak Iron Tail. Luxray has Crunch, but even a crit shouldn't kill Giratina. Just Earthquake everything if you have it, or Shadow Force if you don't. * Rival (Pokémon League): About the only Pokemon Giratina needs to avoid entirely are Heracross due to its sky-high Attack and Night Slash and Snorlax (and possibly Torterra) due to bulk and Crunch. Beyond that, Earthquake for Rapidash and Empoleon/Infernape, Thunderbolt for Floatzel and Staraptor and Psychic/Earthquake for Roserade. Be wary of respective Crunch and Shadow Claw crits from Floatzel and Infernape. * Elite Four Aaron (Pokémon League, Bug-type): Thunderbolt will shut down Yanmega and Vespiquen with ease, though the latter could drag it out a while if she lines up her Defend and Heal Orders right. (Gambling with Stone Edge is also a possibility, though discouraged against Yanmega due to it having Double Team.) Drapion will be down in a few Earthquakes and its Ice Fang is fairly weak despite the super-effectiveness. Bail out when Scizor and Heracross show up; Giratina really doesn't like Night Slashes. * Elite Four Bertha (Pokémon League, Ground-type): Whiscash can be defeated with a few Shadow Forces. Gliscor won't go down quickly and its Earthquake hits hard- doable with heals but not recommended. Don't mess with Hippowdon; it's bulky and is packing Crunch. Earthquakes will dispatch the Golem, though healing may be required, especially if you're already being pounded by Sandstorm. Avoid Rhyperior unless you've already ground up to Earth Power levels; it can soak up a few Earthquakes and respond with devastating Avalanches. * Elite Four Flint (Pokémon League, Fire-type): Earthquake/Earth Power will wreak his entire team, though avoid Houndoom for obvious reasons. ...And you'll probably have to heal at some point from sheer attrition (plus an Earthquake-reliant Giratina really doesn't like being burned at any rate.) * Elite Four Lucian (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): The only Pokemon you should avoid is Espeon and only if Reflect is active. Other than that, feel free to sweep through with Shadow Force -everything except Bronzong will be one-shot by it and Bronzong won't survive long enough to do a threatening amount of damage. * Champion Cynthia (Pokémon League): Spiritomb's carrying both Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse - best to use someone else. Roserade can't do much other than Toxic annoyance. How much of a problem Togekiss is is largely up to how much the RNG likes screwing you over with Air Slash induced flinches- Thunderbolt and pray.Two Earthquakes/Earth Powers will defeat Lucario, but its Shadow Ball will do a number on Giratina- proceed with caution, but switch if the first hit crits or lowers Special Defense. Giratina's tough enough to endure Milotic's Ice Beams and Dragon Pulses, but stick to physical attacks or Mirror Coat will have you tasting pain. If Giratina has Draco Meteor and you're feeling very gutsy, you can attempt Garchomp; Dragon Rush won't kill unless it crits while a full-power Draco Meteor has a good chance of scoring a OHKO;otherwise stay away. * Post-Game: Giratina continues to shine in the post-game as expected, though note it is not allowed in the Battle Frontier. Moves When caught, Giratina will have Ominous Wind, AncientPower, Dragon Claw and Shadow Force; of these, Shadow Force is probably the only one worth keeping in the long haul. At level 50 it'll try to learn Heal Block- don't let it. At level 60, should you even level it that far, it'll learn Earth Power; despite having slightly less power than Earthquake it may actually be better given the defensive gap of the opponents you'd be using it on. At levels 70, 80 and 90 it learns Slash, Shadow Claw and Aura Sphere, but unless you're poking around in the post-game you won't be getting up to those levels anyway. TMs provide some wonderful coverage options in the form of Thunderbolt, Psychic and Earthquake. Dragon Pulse is a possibility if you're insistent on maintaining STAB, though the Dragon type isn't that useful on the offensive. Stone Edge exists, but that questionable accuracy... Most of the good tutor moves are stuck in the postgame. The only really good maingame move is Draco Meteor, and that's only if it's Giratina's only special move or if you plan to switch it out afterwards. Recommended moveset: Shadow Force, Earth Power / Earthquake, Thunderbolt, Psychic / Draco Meteor / Stone Edge Other Giratina's stats * What Nature do I want? Giratina's mighty enough to not be hurt too heavily by any nature, but it doesn't really have any dump stats either. Though if it has to lose from any stat, dropping either defensive stat will probably be the least painful. * How good is Giratina in a Nuzlocke? As one might expect from a legendary, Giratina does very well, though the prevalence of Dark-type moves among the bosses keep it from being the end-all solution to everything. * Weaknesses: Ghost, Dark, Ice, Dragon * Resistances: Poison, Bug, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric * Immunities: Normal, Fighting * Neutralities: Flying, Ground, Rock, Steel, Psychic Category:Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses